Last year's record floods just a memory today; lake back to normal

May 7, 2012

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For lovers of Branson and Table Rock Lake, what a difference a year makes.

At the end of April last year, the lake was 20 feet higher than it is today, swollen to an all-time record level of 935.46 feet by waves of torrential thunderstorms.

The floodgates at Table Rock Dam were opened all the way, thunderously spilling the lake’s overflow. Campsites flooded. Boaters had to dodge floating debris.

With summer just around the corner, it’s a different story this year.

“We’re pretty much at normal pool level, right around 915 feet,” said Greg Oller, manager of the Army Corps Table Rock Lake. “I was talking to a fisherman who said the lake’s already 67 degrees — that’s a little warmer than we expect it to be for this time of year. There’s already been water-skiers and Jet Skiers out on the lake.”

With summer-like temperatures expected this weekend, Ozarks residents already are eyeing trips to Branson and a cool dip in Table Rock Lake just a few miles to the west.

“My husband and son and I go down to the visitor’s center at the dam where we can fish from shore,” said Nixa resident Janet Mahoney, who moved to the Ozarks from New York 20 years ago. “It’s great. We love it down there. It’s so peaceful. There’s tables and benches and you can walk out on the rocks to fish. We love to catch bass, but we don’t weigh ’em. Just take them off the hook and throw ’em back.”

After discovering Table Rock Lake, Mahoney said she didn’t know where to go to fish, since she and her husband James don’t own a boat. She found helpful staff at the new Dewey Short Visitors Center at the south end of the dam.

“They have maps to help you find your way.”

Mahoney isn’t alone in her appreciation of Table Rock.

Springfield resident Kit Carson said he can’t wait to launch the Mainship 350 trawler yacht he recently bought from a boat dealer in Norfolk, Va. The boat was trucked to Table Rock, and Carson said a lakeside crane will soon lift “Moondance” off the trailer and into her new freshwater home.

A longtime sailor who has plied Table Rock for years, Carson said he was getting to the point “where I should not be sailing by myself.”

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“I decided to go to the dark side and buy a trawler,” he said.

Because his sailboat’s 50-foot mast can’t fit under the Kimberling City bridge or Long Creek bridge, he only had access to a portion of the lake. “With the trawler, I’ve got the whole lake available to me now,” he said.

Springfield resident Terry Grimes also looks forward to making frequent trips south this summer.

A season pass-holder to Silver Dollar City for 35 years, Grimes said she visits the park about 20 times a year. As soon as the weather is good, she’s ready to go and the short 48-mile drive from Springfield makes for an easy day trip.

“We moved here in ’76 and I’ve been a pass-holder ever since then,” Grimes said. “That was the entertainment in those days. We just kept going our whole lives. We got married, had kids, four kids, and kept going.”

Her Silver Dollar City favorites?

“I love the international festival, World-Fest,” she said. “Our family is real big into bluegrass so we love the bluegrass festival. And Christmas. I love it all. We love it all. We like the lights, but love the shows over there.”

For Grimes, trips to Silver Dollar City always offer something new.

“They change things all the time,” she said. “The shows will be different. It’s just a nice place to go and take the family. The old folks like it and so do the young kids. As you can tell, we love it. In fact, three of the kids worked there in their teenage years, too. When the kids were young we’d go for the rides. Now that we are older and the kids are older, we go mostly for the shows.”

Although nearly all the Table Rock beaches were underwater last spring, the lake’s most visible one — Moonshine Beach near the south end of the dam — will reopen daily starting May 15.

“That is by far our most popular day-use beach,” said Randy Raley, chief ranger for recreation with the Corps of Engineers. “We have swimming, boat launch, picnic facilities.”

The beach was closed for awhile last year because of the floods, but has been cleaned and is ready for lake-goers. Damage from flood waters forced the Corps to close the Old Highway 86 campground for the duration of the summer. New campsites are being built at a higher elevation to prevent future damage from floods.

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Springfield residents Charley and Cindi Maurer won’t need a campsite to enjoy the lake. They each grew up in families who enjoyed the summer lake house experience — Charley’s family had a cabin on Lake Erie and Cindi’s family kept a lake home at Lake of the Ozarks.

“Really, the best childhood memories we have are from times at the lake,” Cindi said. “After we got married we decided a goal of ours would be to someday have a house at the lake.”

Eight years ago they found their perfect place on Table Rock near Lampe. The house came with a boat dock and grandfather clause that allowed them to keep the grass mowed all the way down to the lake.

With three older children, the Maurers take every advantage of what the lake has to offer. Charley typically is up at 5:30 a.m. to fish for bass, while Cindi enjoys coffee and a good book in the morning.

“Around lunchtime we bring everything down to the boat dock, where we can visit with friends,” she said. Lake entertainment comes in the form of a Wave Runner, ski boat, fishing boat and kayaks, with an inflatable “island” anchored nearby from which to swim.

“This time of year we really get excited about coming down,” Cindi said. “It is definitely a place to go to unwind.”